With petrified branches fueling her advancement, Mel was able to make steady progress where she had once felt as if she was plateauing.

[Bane of Tartarus] had gone from a new toy to a core part of her arsenal. It was silent as the grave until it expanded. By that point, it was too late to do anything about it.

In the darkness, most people couldn’t even see the skill until they were in the middle of it. Omen damage was particularly useful against Acolytes for some reason. Anybody who was capable of healing was usually wrecked by the attack, leaving them reeling and unable to counter Mel’s follow-up attacks.

Over the days of stalking and killing, Mel refined her approach.

Gone were the days of killing the higher ups of the Stolst gang.

By avoiding going straight for the head, she had given them too much time to prepare for her coming.

It was a rookie mistake, but she had been blinded by grief and rage. Now that she had time to think about her predicament, Mel saw the flaws clearly.

She hadn’t counted on how desperate people were. While most people fled when given the chance, an unsettling number of people stepped up to take the initiation and become full-fledged members. With so many gaps in the “elites” the Stolst gang quickly filled out again with more Captains and Lieutenants.

They were weaker than the previous ones, and the damage was already done, but that was a small consolation.

Mel watched the outpost burn like a candle in the night. She smiled to herself on the lone grassy hill over a mile away.

On the other hand, destroying all their attempts at creating supply lines, and depots definitely hurt. They were crippled, and if this had been a standard military operation, she might have turned the tide of battle with her attacks.

The problem was, this wasn’t a typical military theater. This wasn’t like normal warfare at all. People who were stronger were not simply higher military rank with greater importance, they were literally stronger and faster than their lessers.

A smaller group of Coppers could do work and create things that would take 10 or more Mundanes to do. Even then, there was a limit to how many people you could have working on a single project. Whether that was hunting monsters for loot and experience or constructing outposts.

This whole affair had shown Mel just how powerful numbers were, and how alone she truly was. On her own, she could only trust in herself. With seemingly countless people who had joined the gang before its recent troubles, the Stolst gang was able to spread like cancer.

She watched the fires burn for a long time, knowing that few people would be able to put them out. And if they did, they would become prime targets for the “Emerald-eyed Demoness” that they whispered about.

Just a few weeks ago, running a mile to reach a crew of people attempting to save the supplies that Mel couldn’t cart away would have been too far out of range. Now, she could easily see any figures that gathered around the flames, and what they were doing.

More importantly, she could get there in significantly less time. Long enough that she was confident that she could stop whatever they were doing.

The men and women watching the outpost burn were smarter than the last group. They saw the bodies littering the ground and simply watched the conflagration rage.

Some slipped off into the night, never to return.

Mel’s swath of destruction had done irreparable harm to the gang’s recruitment. She overheard people talking about leaving more often than not. It was better late than never.

It helped that killing Copper elites was significantly more harmful to the gang. Suddenly losing somebody with five aspects was a hard blow, no matter how you looked at it. Aspects weren’t impossible to find, but they were fairly rare.

With more and more people looking for them, they had to range farther and farther into the trial. That meant more dangerous areas and monsters, which naturally reduced the number of people seeking aspects.

Sabrina had been right. Staying on the starting plateau would have been a solid plan to stay alive.

If the Stolst gang hadn’t killed them first.

Rage burned in her heart, but Mel didn’t let it take control of her. She snuffed the flames and banked the coals of her anger for later. They were useless now, but in the heat of battle, she could perform a powerful alchemy, transmuting her rage into death.

Mel had long ago heard the old adage, “before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves” which always sounded like bullshit to her.

Firstly, she wasn’t going to just kill two people. Those were rookie numbers. Secondly, if she’s going on a journey of revenge, the people she was killing wouldn’t be worth burying in the first place.

It wasn’t that the wisdom of the sentiment was lost on Mel. She understood that it was warning against the dangers of revenge. At the same time, she thought it was stupid and mocked it relentlessly whenever she had a chance.

Like pacifists, she thought to herself.

She turned her back to the flames, confident that the people watching it would let it burn to ash before they willingly added their bodies to those littering the ground.

Mel slipped between the hills, increasing the [Hidden Mist] around her. Her shoulder blades itched. Somebody or something was watching her. She vanished into the fog, wondering if she had stayed on that hilltop too long.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Any one of those figures slipping off into the dark could have instead been looking for her. Mel had heard how much Warren was willing to pay for her head.

The Coppers of the Stolst gang were more often than not eager to claim that reward. She was known to be a Copper too, right? That meant they were on even ground.

How wrong they were.

Mel crouched down and summoned her frostbite twinblade. She sent her senses far and wide. It was a new trick she had picked up by hunting and stalking people. If she focused, she could often feel the power of those around her.

It was an incredible benefit to be able to sort the Coppers from the Mundanes. That way, she could strike out at the people who were both worth the trouble and posed a threat.

The sad truth was, most of the Coppers barely understood how to use their aspects, let alone fight competently. Mel got the distinct impression that the Stolst gang was shoving aspects onto loyal goons in a bid to raise their power and standing.

A standing that Mel was eroding like high tide to a sand castle. The other groups and fledgling guilds that were forming had noticed that the Stolst gang was stumbling and falling.

They were crumbling from within. The people they might have recruited were instead joining up with other groups. People that they could have used to hold down valuable hunting spots were forced to defend their interests elsewhere.

The other groups were taking full advantage, pressing the Stolst gang on every side while Mel went straight for their throat. It made her job significantly easier. She had no idea who these people were, but it would have been significantly harder if she had to do everything on her own.

Not that I’m going to give them a pass either, Mel thought as she felt a pulse of power to the southwest. She shifted and took an oblique path through the fog, circling around the lone figure.

Mel couldn’t feel anybody else around her. Nobody worth her time at least.

She came up behind them, putting her twinblade to their throat. “Move an inch and I’ll give you a permanent grin. Hands up.”

He carefully put his hands out to the sides. Mel could already tell she was dealing with somebody who was more advanced than the usual rabble. He didn’t have a weapon on his body anywhere, suggesting he knew how to summon and dismiss his weapon.

“Who sent you?” Mel asked, keeping her awareness spread wide. They were fully covered by her [Hidden Mist]. Only those with detection capabilities that trumped her Mist aspect could see through it. Even then, it would be difficult unless they were significantly stronger.

And at that point, she had greater issues to deal with than being exposed.

“Wess sent me,” he said without a hint of a tremor in his voice. “I have an offer.”

“Who the hell is Wess?”

“He’s the leader of Paradise Oblivion. He wants to extend a formal invitation.”

“Why?”

“May I turn around? This is awkward. I’ll keep my hands where you can see them.”

This wasn’t the first time a group had tried to reach out to her, but this was the first time one had succeeded. Usually, she watched them scouting the area she had been in, but she never was interested in meeting them.

The truth was, she had been so deep in her desire for revenge that she never thought about the possibility of doing anything else.

As she continued her rampage through the Stolst gang, it had become abundantly clear that she could have done a lot more damage with the backing of another group.

Hell, just her and Heath could have cleaned up nicely. His aspects had more assassin-like vibes than hers.

I hope he’s doing okay, Mel thought. She still had his coin in her pocket. With everything that happened, she wasn’t sure he would welcome her back.

Unless he had his head in the sand or was at the bleeding edge of the frontier, he would have heard about what she was doing.

Even with that uncomfortable reunion, Mel intended to meet up with him again after her business was over.

“Fine,” Mel said, removing her twinblade but not dismissing it.

The man turned over, rubbing at his neck as if he could feel the blade still there. Mel had been careful not to cut him, but only just.

“My name is Aidan,” he said calmly, keeping his hands up and visible. “I’m one of the leaders of Paradise Oblivion. Wess leads us for now.”

“For now?”

He shrugged. “We’re not some tyrannical organization. He founded it, but he is just one voice. If he decides to step down, the council will fully take over.”

“Pass,” Mel said, backpedaling a few steps. “I have no time for in-fighting.”

“That’s not what we’re about,” Aidan said, taking a few steps toward her. He stopped when Mel gave him a sharp look. “Listen, just hear me out okay? We’ve been tracking you for a long time now. You’ve made a name for yourself as–”

“The Emerald-eyed Demoness, yes I know,” Mel said dryly.

“I was going to say, ‘Mel Emerald-eye.’” He gave her a boyish grin. “Only your enemies would think of you as a demon. Do you have any idea how many people you’ve saved? The lives that would have been spent in servitude? No, of course you don’t.” He shook his head. “Well, there is no denying the claims of your gaze.”

“And?”

Aidan cleared his throat. He clearly thought that charming her was going to work. “We want the same thing. The Stolst gang is nothing more than a big bully. A tyrant. We believe this new world lets us become something more than we were. The people deserve better, but they’re still stronger than a lot of other groups. If you joined us, it would be a devastating blow to them. People would flock to us just because you were there. Your mere presence would rob the Stolst gang from recruiting more desperate souls.”

Mel lowered her twinblade, Aidan took that as the cue to drop his arms. “Even if you don’t want to join us officially,” Aidan said, “we have a plan that could be mutually beneficial.”

Mel lifted her brow. It was getting tiring doing this all on her own. The odds were heavily stacked against her. Maybe she shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss help. “I’m listening…”